Clone Comfort
by JewWitch
Summary: Post S1-finale. The kids think Auntie Cos is the funnest grownup ever, but the adults know she's just high on prescription cough medicine. Clone family fluff-includes Cosima & Delphine, Alison, Sarah & Felix, and the kids.


Hi folks! This is my first Orphan Black fic, hope there are others who will enjoy this fluffiness as well. Basically I've just had this clone-family-fluff story rattling around my head ever since the finale, and I had to get it out. Happy endings for everyone. Enjoy! :)

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**Clone Comfort**

**An Orphan Black fic**

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Summary: Post S1 finale, Cosima-centric fluff. After Sarah finds her daughter, Alison dumps her clone-spying husband, and Delphine finds the cure for Cosima's mysterious illness, they all hole up together (with Uncle Felix of course) at Alison's house, figuring out their new blended family and taking care of Cosima while she recuperates from her sickness. The kids think Auntie Cos is the funnest grown-up ever; but the adults know she's just high on prescription cough syrup. Family fluff.

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"Ouch!" Alison squealed as she tripped over a small pile of checkers on the hall carpet, arms full of a large basket of clean laundry. "Gemma, Oscar, what are you doing playing in the middle of the hallway? Why don't you take your cousin down to the playroom instead?" The anxious soccer mom huffed, recovering her balance and hoisting her laundry more firmly into her arms. "I bet Kira's never seen your Lego collection, huh? You can make all the mess you want down there, and the rest of us don't have to break our necks, hmm?"

"Sorry Mommy," Gemma said sweetly, jumping up to gather the scattered checkers and bringing them back over to the game box. "We're just waiting for Auntie Cos to get up an' play with us."

"Honey, you don't have to wait right outside her bedroom door," Alison sighed, rolling her eyes affectionately at the three eager children—two of her own, and a third who felt like she might as well be. "I know your Aunt Cosima's a lot of fun to play with, but remember what we talked about when she got here. She's still sick, and she needs our help to get all better. Lots of rest, right munchkins?"

"But playing with us _does_ make her feel better," Kira argued boldly, with a devious little smirk just like her mother. "She said so yesterday."

"I know, sweetie," Alison sighed, dropping her laundry basket to give her niece a reassuring pat on the head. "All three of you have been very good helpers. But we still need to let her sleep. Now, scoot!" She swatted them with a loose t-shirt from the laundry basket, and the three kids reluctantly stood and began gathering up their game to take downstairs. But before they had finished, Delphine appeared at the top of the staircase, carrying a breakfast tray with a bowl of oatmeal, a mug of hot tea, an ear thermometer, and a bottle of prescription cough syrup with codeine, along with a fresh bunch of violets in a little bud vase.

"Delphine! Is Auntie Cos awake?" Oscar asked excitedly, standing up with the box of checkers in his arms.

"Not yet, mon petit chou," Delphine smiled gently at the little boy's eager expression. "I'm just going to check on her, yes? She needs a bit of medicine before she can play with you. Alors, go on now." The children shuffled off dejectedly to play downstairs, and Delphine gave Alison a tentative smile. She knew her girlfriend's sisters (if that was really the right word) were still a little wary of her, after the betrayals they'd all suffered at the hands of their own monitors; but they couldn't stay completely mad at her, not after seeing her go to her wit's end and back to cure Cosima's mysterious illness. Thanks to her work, Cosima was going to be just fine, and the rest of the clone club (as they'd grown fond of calling themselves) could rest easy knowing they had a cure in hand if they ever fell ill with the same genetic disorder.

Still, they all had some pretty serious trust issues—and who could blame them? Delphine had come clean and offered Cosima the truth after only a few weeks together; Alison, on the other hand, had been married to her monitor for seven _years _without having a clue. But it seemed even Alison had the emotional stability to separate her own situation from her sister's, because she gave Delphine a small yet genuine smile back.

"Just let me know if she needs anything—or if you do," the ponytailed suburban mom offered earnestly as she hoisted her laundry back into her arms. "I'm going to Whole Foods later. Maybe I'll take the kids, if they're getting underfoot."

"She loves being with them," Delphine shook her head, returning Alison's smile with relief. "They are wonderful little helpers." Alison nodded in acknowledgement, and went off to fold the laundry while Delphine slipped quietly into the guest bedroom she was currently sharing with the dreadlocked PhD student. Cosima, as it turned out, was _not_ asleep; instead, she was curled up in bed, pale as a ghost but reading an enormously thick book with great absorption. She was still too weak to actually _hold_ such a heavy book, but she'd solved that problem by propping it open against a pillow. She had her glasses on, and seemed not even to hear the door open, allowing Delphine to gaze at her beautiful girlfriend (what was the word Felix had used? "Adorkable?") uninterrupted for a few moments.

Then Cosima closed her eyes and coughed painfully, the rattling, congested sound in her chest making the blonde woman wince in sympathy. The convoluted genetic disorder that had caused her lungs to fill with blood was gone now; but it had done enough damage to ensure a long, slow recovery period. And Delphine intended to be there for every single minute of it.

"Bonjour, ma chérie," The blonde woman cooed sweetly, sitting on the edge of the bed as she placed the tray on the bedside table, and reaching out to rub Cosima's back while the coughing girl got her breath back. "How long have you been awake, cheeky monkey? You are supposed to text me when you wake up, so I can bring you your medicine." She tapped the cell phone lying on the bedside table, raising an eyebrow imperiously at her wheezing girlfriend. Cosima just grinned sheepishly.

"I know, I'm sorry," the dreadlocked girl sighed, reaching out and lacing their fingers together as Delphine's hand slipped into hers. "I just wanted to get some reading done before you dope me up with more of that happy juice," she smirked, gesturing to the bottle of prescription-grade cough syrup on the breakfast tray. "After that I won't be good for...for homework time..." She coughed again, her breath softly wheezing with congestion; and Delphine just rubbed her back until it passed.

"All right, my little teacher's pet," the French girl sighed, with an affectionate smile once Cosima stopped coughing and looked back up at her. "There will be plenty of time for homework when you are well again, yes? Right now, I am only concerned with your health. Your big brain isn't going anywhere, mais non?"

"Well, when you put it like that," Cosima sighed, a coy smile on her pale face as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Okay, okay. Dope me up." Delphine beamed at her and kissed her forehead, slipping the plastic ear thermometer gently into her girlfriend's ear canal, and waiting only a few seconds before the little digital readout beeped importantly.

"Ah, only 100.8 today, chérie. You are feeling better, yes?"

"Mais oui," Cosima teased, giggling softly until she started to cough again. "Ughh. Ouuuch," she whined softly, wincing as she pulled her hand away from her mouth.

"No blood?" Delphine asked anxiously, pulling the shorter girl's hand toward her for inspection without waiting for a reply.

"No, just good old-fashioned phlegm," Cosima grumbled with a petulant sigh, frustrated and impatient with her slow recovery. "Can I have my hand back now?" Delphine winked and released her girlfriend's hand, cracking open the orange-tinted prescription bottle and pouring out a large spoonful.

"Open," she instructed gently, and Cosima submitted without any more backtalk, opening her mouth and allowing her girlfriend to tip the potent cough syrup down her throat.

"Très bon, chérie," The blonde woman smiled, leaning in and kissing the tattooed girl lightly on the lips. "Now eat your oatmeal so the medicine doesn't upset your tummy."

"Yes, dear," Cosima sighed, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

…...

Twenty minutes later, Delphine lead Cosima gently from her bed downstairs to the playroom, where the kids were waiting. The dreadlocked girl was cheerfully woozy now from the powerful drugs in her system, grinning hugely and rambling nonstop to her girlfriend about how totally brilliant her little nieces and nephew were, and how one of them was sure to win a Nobel Prize one day if she didn't beat them to it.

The children in question lit of up like Christmas trees when they saw their favorite auntie, bouncing up from their legos to flock around her as she came into the playroom and sat down on the couch. "Take it easy, guys, I'm not going anywhere," Cosima chuckled sleepily, ruffling Kira's hair as the little girl nestled up against her side.

"Can we still make the hot ice today, Auntie Cos?" Gemma asked excitedly, the legos already forgotten. "We got all the ingredients and the super-special-scientist goggles from the garage."

"Totally. Rock on," Cosima smiled back, delighted at the kids' enthusiasm for her science experiments. So far she'd shown them how to make their own slime; a baking soda volcano in the back yard; and a multicolored fire in a saucepan (that one had caused some yelling from Alison, even though Cosima assured her it was totally safe and would not make the house burn down—colorfully or otherwise).

"Remember you must also let your auntie rest, mes petits chous," Delphine reminded them all gently, pulling a soft throw blanket from the basket beside the couch and tucking it lightly around her girlfriend's still-feverish body, with another kiss to her warm forehead. "You will be our good helpers again today, yes?"

"Yes, Delphine," the kids chanted in unison, nodding eagerly.

"I'mb not an invalid," Cosima grumbled, rubbing her nose with a petulant sigh. "I think I can handle a little sodium acetate, you know."

"Yes, dear," Delphine teased, parroting back the line Cosima said to _her _whenever she gave in and did something she didn't really want to do. "Now enjoy your experiment. I'll be back with tea in an hour. Oscar, you will be in charge until I come back, yes?"

"Uh-huh," the eight-year-old nodded, looking supremely proud of himself as he stood up and pulled on his plastic safety goggles. "Don't worry, I'll make sure Auntie Cos is resting."

"Good boy." Delphine ruffled his hair, then kissed them all on top of their heads on her way out, ending with a gentle kiss on the lips for Cosima. "Now be good and rest yourself, chérie," the blonde woman murmured, with a little wink as she turned and left the playroom. As soon as she was gone, Cosima gave the kids a huge, mischievous grin.

"Okay, my little helper dudes. Who's ready for science experiments?"

"Me! Me! Me!" They all yelled, jumping up and down on the couch in excitement.

"Rock on," Cosima beamed at them. "Oscar, go get the vinegar and the baking soda."

…...

When the sound of the garage door opening creaked through the basement playroom forty minutes later, the kids didn't even look up. They were completely absorbed in their "hot ice" sculptures, pouring out the liquid sodium acetate onto the heavy glass plates, where it instantly solidified into what looked like tiny frozen castles and turrets.

"Oi, monkeys. What are you making?" Sarah grinned at the scene as she came in from the garage, Felix on her heels. Both of them carried heavy duffle bags, slowly moving more of their stuff to Alison's from the city.

"Hot ice castles, Mummy!" Kira squealed excitedly, jumping up and tugging on her mother's hand to show her their experiment. "Auntie Cos showed us how. The secret is, it's science." Felix chuckled at his niece's enthusiasm, while Sarah got down on her knees to admire her daughter's work.

"Auntie Cos has had a busy morning then, eh?" The british girl said wryly, raising an eyebrow significantly at her sister—who was now lying across the couch with her eyes half-closed, looking more than a little out of it. "Not taking it easy like she promised?"

"Dude, no, I totally am," the dreadlocked girl mumbled sleepily, rubbing her nose with a soft, wheezy cough into the crumpled tissue she held. "I haven't even gotten off the couch...just told these guys what to do. They're like, completely badass little scientists. They figured it all out, no problem." she grinned so hugely, Sarah couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, monkeys, your science experiments are lovely," The british girl sighed, ruffling her daughter's hair. "But let's finish up now, yeah? Uncle Felix has brought all his paints back from the flat, would you all like to be painters for the afternoon?"

"Yeah!" Oscar nodded.

"I wanna stay with Auntie Cos an' be a scientist," little Gemma said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

"Aww, baby science geek," Cosima chuckled, then coughed again. "Uhhh. It's cool. Go play artist with Uncle Felix...and I'll just...sleep for a while..." She hastily cupped the crumpled tissue in her hand back to her face, nose scrunching up adorably with a stuffy sneeze.

"Bless you!" All three kids chirped in unison.

"Thag you," Cosima mumbled woozily behind her tissue, sniffling sleepily.

"All right rugrats, time to make bohemians out of the lot of you, yeah? Come on then." Felix gathered up the kids and started hustling them towards the stairway, while Sarah scooted over to her sister and gently felt her forehead.

"A bit cooler today, aren't you?" The british girl said gently, with a smile. "That's brilliant. And no more blood, yeah?" She reached out and pulled Cosima's hand away from her face, just as Delphine had done earlier, inspecting the sick girl's crumpled tissue for bloodstains.

"Ugh, can you chill? It's just snot," Cosima grumbled, slightly annoyed at the way her bodily fluids had recently become public property around the house. But, right on the heels of that annoyance came a much stronger feeling: a rush of warmth and safety, and affection for...well...her family. "I already have one sister acting like my mom, _and_ an overprotective girlfriend. Thought you were 'spozed to be the punk in this crew." She rubbed her eyes, and Sarah couldn't help grinning a little at how similar her sister was to her daughter; they had the same sparkling eyes, the same mischievous grin and the same cranky pout.

"I _am_ the punk," Sarah smirked quietly, pulling the blankets up more securely over Cosima's shoulders and gently slipping off her glasses, folding them neatly on the coffee table. "I'm just a mum now, too. Innit right, Kira?" She called softly to her daughter, who turned around at the edge of the stairwell and beamed at them.

"Punk rock Mummy!" the little girl squealed, making the rock and roll sign with both hands as she jumped up and down enthusiastically.

"That's right, monkey," Sarah nodded, with a satisfied smirk. When she looked down, she saw that Cosima's eyes had fallen drowsily shut; but just to make sure, the british girl spent a few more minutes lightly rubbing her sister's head and cuddling her on the couch. It wasn't long before the tattooed girl began to snore softly, and Sarah gently leaned down and kissed her forehead. She could hear the sounds of Felix, the kids, and the rest of their household all thumping around in the house above them; but for now, she just wanted to sit and watch over her sleeping sister. Just for a few more minutes.


End file.
